Hardware Labs Black Ice Nemesis GTR 360 Radiator

[VSG]

Hardware Labs has been a mainstay in the PC DIY watercooling industry for over 15 years now, with an emphasis on radiators for different needs. Today, we take a look at the new Nemesis GTR 360 for those who want the best possible thermal dissipation performance from their radiators.

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[VSG]

Hey guys, you might have noticed this is the first watercooling (not AIO, but custom loop parts) review from TPU in a long, long while. As part of my duties here, I will be posting reviews not only on keyboards but also custom watercooling parts as this is gaining a lot of traction in the past few years in terms of personal builds and mods alike. If you have any questions or comments, please let me know. If you have specific requests for things you want to see next, that will be fine also but please note that I may have covered a lot of parts you are interested in elsewhere (Thermalbench.com) so take a look there too.

 

[yogurt_21]

Nice review radiators have come a long way since my Danger Den Black Ice Pro was made. Still have it and a few blocks.

 

[BucketNakedz]

Yo!

was shocked to see a custom watercooled component reviewed here - especially a radiator, but when I saw it was VSG. i had to stop by and say hi.

my favorite water cooling contributor working with my favorite tech website. 2017 couldnt have started off any better. congrats and i wish you even more success VSG and TPU.

 

[2big2fail]

I recently used the GTR 280 w/ 2x Noctua NF-A14 2000 rpm to cool 2x 980ti and 4790K. The performance of the radiator is exceptional at load: Firestrike Extreme & Ultra stress tests, boost clock 1490MHz, max load temp on both GPUs 49/51c (result after 5 consecutive stress tests). But even with these high static pressure fans, the airflow is extremely restrictive. I modified the fan curves to be min speed of 1000rpm to drop the temps at idle. I'm upgrading to the 3000 rpm version of the NF-A14 and going to test again.

 

[Sasqui]

Hey guys, you might have noticed this is the first watercooling (not AIO, but custom loop parts) review from TPU in a long, long while. As part of my duties here, I will be posting reviews not only on keyboards but also custom watercooling parts as this is gaining a lot of traction in the past few years in terms of personal builds and mods alike. If you have any questions or comments, please let me know. If you have specific requests for things you want to see next, that will be fine also but please note that I may have covered a lot of parts you are interested in elsewhere (Thermalbench.com) so take a look there too.

These reviews are all too uncommon for sure. Nice to see and keep up the good work

 

[dcf-joe]

I see that you stated the EK Vardar fans were among the 2016 average-performing radiator fans. Which fans are the new kings of radiators? I had always believed that since the Gentle Typhoons were discontinued, the EK Vardar fans were the new cream of the crop in term of radiator fans.

 

[ZeroFM]

I prefer 140mm fans , they a lot quiter and perform better

 

[arduum]

I dont see such characteristics as the quality of the paint, which is very important.

 

[VSG]

I see that you stated the EK Vardar fans were among the 2016 average-performing radiator fans. Which fans are the new kings of radiators? I had always believed that since the Gentle Typhoons were discontinued, the EK Vardar fans were the new cream of the crop in term of radiator fans.

Ah I can see where this confusion arose, the fans I mentioned as average were the ones used for testing and those were the Blacknoise Noiseblocker NB-eLoops ranging from B12-1 to B12-4. I will clarify this in the review there also. The EK Vardars are still among the very best for 120 mm fans, although currently there is tough competition from Corsair with the ML fans and be quiet! with the Silent Wings 3. If you are considering 140 mm, check out also the NB-eLoop 140 mm fans which are a completely new design and also thicker at 29 mm vs the usual 25 mm.

I prefer 140mm fans , they a lot quiter and perform better

Same here, but as of today 120 mm fans and radiators still outsell the 140 mm counterparts by 5:1 or 6:1 on average. In my personal build I go with 140 mm size radiators as much as possible. Sometimes even larger with 180 mm fans/rads!

I dont see such characteristics as the quality of the paint, which is very important.

I mentioned the matte black finish was flawless, but I suppose I could have gone into more details. Hardware Labs generally have the best build quality in the business- inside and outside.

 

[Footman]

Great to see water cooling review, far too few sites online reviewing custom watercooling parts these days.

 

[Antykain]

I have a Black Ice Nemesis GTX 240 in my other crunching rig.. It does a wonderful job keeping the power-hungry, miniature fusion reactor (aka., FX-8350) nice and cool.. and quiet. This new GTR class of rads from Hardware Labs might be worth looking into for my next build, possibly. Though I do prefer the near-silent operation I am getting now..

 

[VSG]

I have a Black Ice Nemesis GTX 240 in my other crunching rig.. It does a wonderful job keeping the power-hungry, miniature fusion reactor (aka., FX-8350) nice and cool.. and quiet. This new GTR class of rads from Hardware Labs might be worth looking into for my next build, possibly. Though I do prefer the near-silent operation I am getting now..

Then just buy another Nemesis GTX itself, the Nemesis GTR isn't going to do any better at the low noise operation you favor. Another option to consider is the XSPC RX v3 if you want multiple ports.

 

[Antykain]

Then just buy another Nemesis GTX itself, the Nemesis GTR isn't going to do any better at the low noise operation you favor. Another option to consider is the XSPC RX v3 if you want multiple ports.

I have the XSPC RX360 v3 in my gaming rig. Really like how it performs as well.. and it's a bit cheaper, as well. Have the RX240 v2 in there as well.. it's in a single-loop configuration right now.

 

[VSG]

I have the XSPC RX360 v3 in my gaming rig. Really like how it performs as well.. and it's a bit cheaper, as well. Have the RX240 v2 in there as well.. it's in a single-loop configuration right now.

Single loops are the way to go. Multiple loops are so inefficient, it's really only to fill up space in a case with two reservoirs.

 

[Antykain]

Single loops are the way to go. Multiple loops are so inefficient, it's really only to fill up space in a case with two reservoirs.

I was kind of thinking the same about it. A while back I was considering taking the loop out of the crunching rig and replacing it with a AIO, then adding a second loop to my main rig. Considering it was about as far as I went with that one. The single loop in the main rig with the 2 rads is doing really good as it is now. If I ever get around to it, I had plans on upgrading the tubing to acrylic. But that's another story.. lol

 

[Enterprise24]

Mine use GTX 240 and GTS 360 combined with Gentle Typhoon AP-15 and it perform excellently. Cool and Quiet.
Maybe next upgrade I will look at GTR line.

 

[Assimilator]

For the price, they could've at least included enough screws for a pull-push setup.

 

[Ubersonic]

I had always believed that since the Gentle Typhoons were discontinued

They haven't actually been discontinued, it's just the US/EU reseller Scythe have stopped importing them as the profit margins were no longer viable. If you fancy buying a few containers full of them and shipping them in then I'm sure Nidec Servo Corp will deal with you

 

[VSG]

They haven't actually been discontinued, it's just the US/EU reseller Scythe have stopped importing them as the profit margins were no longer viable. If you fancy buying a few containers full of them and shipping them in then I'm sure Nidec Servo Corp will deal with you

Dazmode has most of the GTs back, and in black too. Retailers in USA, Canada and UK have them under the Darkside brand.

Would you guys like to see one of these GTs reviewed?

 

[dcf-joe]

Dazmode has most of the GTs back, and in black too. Retailers in USA, Canada and UK have them under the Darkside brand.

Would you guys like to see one of these GTs reviewed?

YES

 

[VSG]

YES

Okay, let me see if I can convince w1zzard

 

[vastac13]

Long time lurker here! Proudly made in the Philippines

Anyway, last time I visit to their main HQ(Just 30 mins ride away) I asked if they can fabricate a custom radiator, say 1080 size (120mmx9 fans) and they happily oblige with a price. They were ohh so cool about it and said if you can dream it, we can make it happen. LOL

They've come a long way back from where they're still starting circa 2000.

 

[HammerON]

Glad to see this type of review as someone whom has been water cooling for quite some time

 

[Steevo]

Yep, soon I will be looking for new parts for a new build, thanks for the review.